The Red Rose
by obsidians
Summary: Nabiki is reflecting on her history with Kuno, this is a short one shot that I'm thinking about into a series of one shots going into their future.
1. The Red Rose

I didn't create Ranma 1/2 or its characters and make no profit writing these stories.

Afternoon everyone this is just a little story I had kicking around in my wee hungover brain. Hope you like it.

Nabiki watched the proud arrogant young man stroll through the school yard as if he owned it, with his usual smirk on his face and wondered what had happened to them. He seemed so untouchable now where he was locked into his own world of delusions of grandeur where he was a sex god no woman could resist and only condescended to mingle with the great unwashed masses when forced to.

Nabiki remembered Tatewaki first as a little bald young boy in kindergarten, dragging him forward to meet her mother on her first day of school, to introduce her to her new friend and telling her, she was going to marry him someday.

Nabiki could never understand why his own mother was always late; if she were there to pick him up at all and presently, her own mother was bringing him home with them, until either his father or his servant picked him up. Nabiki enjoyed having an adopted brother and it wasn't long before her mother had him helping out with the light household chores, like setting the table and folding laundry.

Practically growing up beside him, he had been her first friend. Then her first crush and then her first kiss; of course she had blackmailed him out of telling anyone _that_. She even remembered playing doctor with him; this memory always caused her to blush. Then one day he seemed to ignore her in favour of Akane, when he noticed what a young beauty she was becoming and had been chasing her ever since.

Now at best, Nabiki and he were casual acquaintances where he got into a fight almost daily over her sister and was sent flying. Those times spent at the nurse's office were the only real contact she had with him besides in class or when she sold him photographs.

She still couldn't get over the transformation from the bright, sensitive, caring young boy he had been to the almost-cold ridiculous buffoon he had become and mourned the loss of her friend, the boy who once gave her her first red rose in his father's garden and said he would always love her.

THE END


	2. Photographs

Photographs

This is the second chapter/short story that I shall be writing for this one. They all fairly connected and if anyone has suggestions how to improve the flow, feel free to contact me. But keep in mind, I prefer short chapters and have the attention span of a hyperactive three year old, lol.

The weather was so nice that Nabiki opted to have her lunch outdoors and spread a blanket beneath a tree in the schoolyard was having fun feeding small morsels of her food to ants when she heard a voice that caused her to glance up and a form blocked out the sunlight. "Nabiki Tendo?"

"Hi Kuno-Baby, what can I do for you?" she asked him.

"I was wondering where Akane Tendo is?" he replied.

"She's gone on a training trip with Ranma" Nabiki said and almost enjoyed his look of dismay at this.

"Okay please convey that she is in my thoughts on her safe return" he said and turned to go.

"Why aren't you eating lunch?" she asked him on impulse.

He paused and turned back to her, even at the moments she knew only contempt for Kuno; Nabiki had to admit he had the most gorgeous eyes. "I forgot my bento box and don't care for cafeteria fare, ergo I shall not be eating until I return home" he replied.

"So why don't you join me and share my lunch with me? Kasumi always packs too much for me to eat" Nabiki suggested, patting the blanket beside her.

"You wish me to join you?" Kuno replied, seeming surprised at her suggestion.

"Come on, we're old friends. No one's going to think anything weird about it" she told him.

"Very well, I accept" he said, placing his bokken beside the blanket and sitting down beside her.

"Help yourself" she said holding out her bento box and she wondered at the smile he suddenly displayed. "What is it?" she asked in amusement.

"I see Kasumi makes the same rice ball pandas that your mother used to make" he said, taking one and biting into it with gusto. "I haven't had one of these in years."

"I remember my mother used to make extras for me to feed you at school when we were little" Nabiki said, smiling at the memory.

"Your mother was a wonderful person" he agreed.

On impulse, Nabiki pulled out the old photo album she had brought. "Remember this day?" she asked him pointing to a photograph. "I have this album with me as I want to commission an oil painting of my mother for my father's birthday" she explained at his look of inquiry.

"Yes our wedding day" he said with a laugh. "We had just turned seven and your mother sewed us wedding kimonos and your father married us beside your koi pond while your sisters and mother were bridesmaids" he said smiling oddly tenderly at this.

"Yes and my sister had made the bouquets out of wild flowers and poison ivy they picked, that we all held before my mother realized what was in them" Nabiki laughed. "You were such a cute kid" she commented.

"I like myself better with hair" he said, brushing it back. You were pretty cute too" he said. "I do miss those days" he mused.

"I was wondering the other day; what happened to us? We used to be so close" she ventured.

He frowned and started plucking grass, she recognized this as a nervous gesture he used to do as a child too. "There are things you don't know about my homelife that you were kept ignorant of by your own parents. I can tell you them if you wish to know, but it might change your perception of your own idyllic childhood. Ask yourself if you really want that knowledge before I continue" he said, after a long pause.

"Tell me" she said sharply, watching as his long slim fingers idly twirled some kind of wild iris flower that Nabiki couldn't identify.

"Very well, my mother was a drinker who was normally drunk by noon and secretly addicted to cocaine, or so I found out later. Did you never notice how she always talked too loud and stumbled when she came to pick me up from kindergarten...that is when she remembered to pick me up? I always wondered why the other mothers glared at her. I think it was your own mother that made a deal with my father that I would go to your place after school until he could retrieve me. I'm sure she did it out of kindness of course, based on how you used to cling to me" he explained.

Nabiki frowned at this, feeling pure sympathy for him...and guilt for some reason "Where was your father during all this?" she asked him with a frown.

"He went away on a lot of business trips and didn't believe that children should be raised by nannies. So I have been looking after my sister since I was little myself. I think that Kodachi had it worse than me, because mother loved to play dress up with her but would spank her for almost no reason. However, she had no use for little boys, so I was pretty much left alone" he said with a shrug.

"That sounds horrible" Nabiki said, surprised when she suddenly had the urge to hug him and wondered how he could narrate all these terrible things as if reading a recipe outloud.

"It wasn't all bad, I had the greatest time in my life when I was at your place. I used to be so jealous of you for your family life" he said, giving her another almost-sad smile.

""You know you're still invited over whenever you want?" she ventured.

"No it wouldn't be the same, you can never return to the past. Besides, everything changed when your mother died. Your father tried to make me feel just as welcome, but it was never the same. He was grieving and didn't need another child hanging around" he pointed out. "Especially when my own mother died of a drug overdose in front of Kodachi and she needed me at home."

"I never knew, I'm sorry" Nabiki said daring to put her hand on his arm in sympathy.

"Don't be; it wasn't your fault" he said drawing his arm away from her touch. "I'm glad you had a great childhood. As for me, I like to think mine made me stronger. Especially when my father left us for good when I turned fourteen. I had to be strong, I was the man of the house as my father said and responsible for my sister" he explained.

"That's when you pretty much stopped coming to visit" Nabiki observed.

"Your father didn't like how I was acting around Akane and 'encouraged' me not to visit so often" he explained. "Besides you had started to change; you were no longer my best friend. You were acting cold and hostile towards me and I didn't need more negativity in my life" he finished.

"You know I still care about you" she admitted.

"And I will always care about you, even if I don't much care for the person you have become, but I shall welcome you as a sister-in-law when I marry Akane" he said and then pointed to a certain picture of her mother smiling and posing in front of cherry blossoms. "This is the one you should have made into a portrait. I've never really realized until now, how much Akane's growing into your mother's image...and she has her kindness as well. I guess that's why I like her so much" he mused and stood up and draped his bokken over his shoulder. "I thank you for lunch but I have to go prepare for a kendo meeting after school, I shall see you in class, Nabiki Tendo" he said and left with a bow.

Nabiki's head was spinning at how little she had actually known her so-called best friend and felt bad at the petty jealousy that had leant to the final demise of their close friendship. She picked up the iris he had been playing with; it was still warm from his fingertips. She suddenly remembered how often he almost demanded hugs and how she and her sisters would happily attack him in a tackling hug pile and her eyes blurred slightly with tears at imagining having nowhere else to get something so simple that she herself had taken for granted would always be offered.

THE END OF THIS ONE :)


	3. Kiss Me

Thanks for the review yesterday, guest (and thanks for the reviews from everyone else as well! Much appreciated), actually I can only pull off tragedy for so long. It gets a lot more fluffy hereon in. Keep in mind these are more like short stories, so anything can happen. Hope you're enjoying and will leave reviews on your way out the door...

Kuno was actually more observant than people gave him credit for and one of the things was, his uncanny ability to be able to tell when a girl got her period, not that he would ever disclose that information to anyone; let alone the female in question.

This ability had been honed out of a survival instinct where his own sibling, who would cheerfully poison him on a normal day, turned into a homicidal maniac bent on his destruction.

Therefore he already knew that his ex-best friend, Nabiki had her period, but he found himself wondering as the severity of her reaction to it, normally she seemed to be a little more annoying than normal and drawn to strange food combinations. But today she had been wincing and holding her belly when she thought that no one was looking and he found himself feeling oddly concerned about this.

Nabiki was experiencing the worst period of her life as the pains in her belly seemed to deepen with time and she felt as if she had a fever. She thought about going home but she had a math test, so tried to ignore it until she felt nausea coming on and hurriedly had to be excused from class. She moaned softly from her doubled up position over the toilet and forced herself to straighten up, rinsed out her mouth and forced another useless midol into her churning stomach and still hunched slightly forward, opened the door and ran into Kuno.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned at how she seemed to be struggling to walk upright.

"I'm fine" she said, sweeping past him.

"No you're not alright, I heard you throwing up in there" he said moving so that he stood in front of her again.

"It's just female trouble" she said, hoping that that would get rid of him as it did most males when those magic words were uttered to them.

"It seems to be a lot more than that" he insisted. Nabiki tried not to wince as a particularly large cramp flared up and stumbled only to be caught by him. "Come on, we're getting you to a hospital" he said.

"No, I have a math test" she said, standing her ground.

"Oh, you could be having a miscarriage you don't know about or your appendix is about to burst but, by all means... _you should worry about a math test_ " Kuno said in sarcastic voice.

"A bright star would be appearing in the east with three wise men in tow for your first suggestion; thank you very much. _Let go of me_ " she commanded him and then the world went black and the last thing she saw was his concerned face mouthing her name.

FLASHBACK

This time a younger Kuno stood before her and she recognized him from when he was fourteen and his hair was growing out. "Come on Kuno-Baby, I want you to kiss me for my birthday" she heard herself say and she realized they were on her porch, on the evening of her fourteenth birthday.

"I already bought you the bracelet you wanted. How much more do you need?" he asked as a blush crept over his face.

"I want you to make me a woman" she teased him.

"I think I would have to do a _lot_ more than kiss you for that" he said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Just kiss me" she said looking up at him and he lowered his head and gave her a peck on the lips.

"There I kissed you" he said in triumph.

"Nooo, I meant like how they kiss in movies" she protested.

"Fine, I'll give it a try" he said and placed his lips against hers. Their first clumsy attempts made them both giggle until they got into the rhythm and both teenagers were breathing heavy as Kuno's arms tightened around Nabiki until she was brought sharply against his body. She tightened her own arms around him enjoying the feeling of his solid frame. He had always been tall and lithe, but his kendo training was giving him more muscular definition that Nabiki couldn't help but appreciate.

He tasted of honey and almonds from her birthday cake and then...Akane opened the door and yelled, "I found them, Kuno's giving Nabiki his cooties."

Both teenagers flew apart and Nabiki hissed "shut up you little brat" at Akane as Kasumi gawked at them both.

"I'm never gonna let a boy kiss me. They're so gross" Akane announced and Kuno looked rather hurt at this.

Suddenly Soun's demon head was lashing its tongue at Kuno, "what's this Kuno, are you trying take advantage of my perfect little angel?"

"Of course not, sir" he insisted.

"Honestly daddy, we just were kissing" Nabiki said impatiently.

END FLASHBACK

Nabiki woke up with her mouth as dry as the desert. "Water" she gasped. She felt someone help her into a seated position and cool water flowed down her throat, she opened her eyes and frowned at Kuno's look of concern. "Where am I?" she asked him as she looked around and thought the room looked like a hospital room.

"You're in the same private hospital that I normally go to" he explained.

"But why?" she asked him.

"I'll get your doctor and he can explain it to you" he replied, leaving the room for only a couple of seconds. "This is Dr. Honda, he's an ob-gyn, he's the best in the business and he's also the one who brought Kodachi and I into this world" Kuno explained.

Dr. Honda was a middle aged man with thinning hair, an air of professionalism and confident smile. "How are you feeling Miss Tendo?" he asked her.

"Like I've been hit by a bus. Why am I here?" she asked him.

"You had a condition called Ovarian Torsion, which basically means one of your ovaries was twisted and being strangled off due to a cyst. I managed to cut the cyst away and suture it and untwist everything so to speak. The surgical incisions are small and should leave minimal scarring. Your ovary should heal in no time, so you should be fine" he assured her.

"I thought I was just having a bad period" she said, feeling stunned the Kuno had been right.

"It's easy to misunderstand what these things can be and fairly hard to diagnose if you don't know what tests to run" Dr. Honda explained.

"See? I told you something was wrong," Kuno smugly said.

"Okay fine, I owe you my fertility" Nabiki couldn't help saying and laughed when he blushed even though it hurt to do so, well stoned from the pain killers.

"Hey I had a heck of a time getting you here. Some people wanted to give you a pregnancy test; as if that would have accomplished anything! Some people wanted me to take you to the nurse's room. I literally had to call my doctor to get him to dispatch an ambulance" Kuno said with exasperation in his voice.

"Thank you" she said "So now what happens? Everyone's away at home" Nabiki asked. "I didn't go because of my math test."

"Well when I went to call your family, the outgoing message said they we absent, so called the number provided and it appears that they are visiting someone called Nodoka Saotome. A relation of Ranma's I presume? They are all staying with this person while Ranma and Akane are training in the mountains, so they need a couple of days before they rejoin them and then I shall be dispatching my jet to pick them up. As for your math test, our teacher's going to let you write it once you're healed" Kuno explained and she couldn't help smiling in appreciation at how he had handled everything.

"You're welcome to remain here until your family can come and get you" Dr. Honda offered.

"No I need to go home" she said in a panicked sounding voice, throwing her leg over the side of the bed.

"Oh no you don't" Kuno admonished, pushing her back. "Nabiki, are you still not over your irrational fear of hospitals? Why did your father let you watch those stupid medical thriller movies?" he sighed. "Just because you stay in a hospital; no one is going to mistake you for another patient and give you a medical procedure you don't need or try to remove your organs" he assured her, taking her hand at her wild-eyed stare.

"You're one to talk watermelon-boy" she snapped and he narrowed his eyes at this. "I can't stay here" she cried, "not alone. Stay with me" she begged him.

Dr. Honda cleared his throat and explained. "I'm sorry but overnight visitors are restricted to immediate family or married couples."

"I'm not staying here!" Nabiki protested.

"Okay do you want to come to my place?" Kuno asked her. "Just until your family gets back."

"You wouldn't mind?" she asked him after a pause.

"My place is hardly guest friendly but you should be safe enough if you don't wander around alone" he said with a shrug.

"Then get me out of here!" she practically begged him.

"Okay I'll go order the limo" he said reluctantly.

Nabiki winced as Kuno helped her inside, the pain killers made it hard for her to keep her balance but she refused to let him carry her like she was a baby. She had her pride after all, but he surprised her in the end when he tenderly tucked her into bed.

"You don't like that I'm here" she observed in a stoned-sleepy way.

"It's not that, it's just that I'm not used to having a guest I have to play nursemaid to" he explained.

"Are you afraid I'm going to go all clingy little girly on you?" she asked.

"yes, I have a busy life and don't need the interruptions" he simply answered.

"If you not into playing nursemaid, then why did you tuck me in?" she asked, not realizing she sounded rather childish or that she pouted.

"Oh, I didn't realize I had" he said blushing. "That is the product of having a younger sister who was highly cuddly as a child. It guess it's something I have been trained to do when it comes to females, especially injured ones."

"I like it" she said in a drugged voice that caused him to smile, she was cute when she wasn't really herself; he thought.

"Okay you just came out of surgery, so you should get some sleep" he hinted.

"Can't I get another hug?" she asked and he looked a little disconcerted when she gave him large puppy dog eyes. It was a little spooky but endearing at the same time.

"Okay, but then you have to go to sleep" he said and gave her one and dropped a kiss on her forehead as well for good measure. "There I gave you a kiss as a bonus; you had better _not_ be bragging to your friends that you scored with me" he said in amusement.

"You know, lots of people say you're an arrogant jerk, but I like you" she said.

"Well, thanks, I think, I like you too" he said after a long pause. "Now I'm in the room right next door if you need anything or dial 1 on the houseline and someone will come and get me for you. There is a full washroom right through that door" he explained.

"Thanks, I miss being with you" Nabiki said and snuggled into bed.

"Well it looks like you're stuck with me for a couple days at least" he observed and turned the lights out.

Nabiki smiled sleepily, feeling right at home despite it being the big scary Kuno mansion, traps and all and drifted off to sleep with the sound in the next room of Kuno humming along to a classical song he played while he did his homework.


	4. Embraceable

Sorry I hate writing party/date scenes I shall try to write that one tomorrow or might just head for their being reunited in the future. I'm liking how this is flowing and shall continue this for a least a few new chapters. Hope you're liking it too.

Kuno was concentrating so hard on the work in front of him, when the door to his room was slowly pushed open, soft footsteps approached him; that he chose to ignore in his concentration, he frowned when fingers slowly walked their way up his back. He grimaced and braced himself for what was coming but still shivered and said "ngh" as the collar of his shirt was pulled away and a gush of air was blown onto the nape his neck and a two fingers brushed against _that_ spot.

"Really Nabiki, Ten Spiders Crawling Up Your Back? Aren't you a little old to be playing that game?" he complained to his old friend.

"It gets you every time" she said with a smirk, she wore a sleeveless pink top and black denim capri pants that did wonders to her long legs.

"That's only because of the ticklish spot on my neck. What are you doing here by the way? I know after you stayed with us for a bit, that I told you, you were always welcomed here anytime, but I meant in the sense that you should call ahead before coming and not simply come haunt my place and myself" he said.

"I've been dress shopping for the prom tonight with your sister and she invited me to lunch" she explained.

"Of course you have" Kuno said wearily, in the short time that Nabiki had stayed with them, she had won over everyone in the house, even his dog and it seemed, even Mister Scaly Green. Kuno himself had had quite in shock to discover Nabiki giving him a belly rub one day. "Wait you have a date for the prom? Somebody actually asked _you_ to be their date?" he said in an incredulous sounding voice and actually felt a little...hurt and quickly dismissed this.

"Well thanks" Nabiki said in a dry sounding voice. "Actually Kodachi volunteered her big brother as my date."

Kuno frowned at this, "but she only has one brother and that would be...oooooooh no" he said with a negative shake to his head.

"Come on Kuno-Baby, you have to come. Just think of all the people you need to say your final goodbyes to, we grew up with them and we might never see them again" Nabiki said persuasively.

"I've said my goodbyes to the ones who mattered to me" he said stubbornly. "Besides I have to prepare for entrance exams for the universities I have chosen to apply for. "

"You sure said goodbye to Ranma" Nabiki commented and then frowned when the kendoist snapped his pencil between his fingertips and stood up to glare down at her.

"You just _have_ to bring that up! Bad enough to find that he and Akane got officially engaged on their training trip, but I _also_ had to find out that my Pigtailed Girl was Ranma the whole time and that _entire_ school was laughing at me for chasing after a guy...and then he had to go and do _that_!" Kuno growled and seemed to have suddenly developed a facial tick.

"He only gave you a hug goodbye" Nabiki said, while trying to suppress a laugh.

"No, what he did was, flung himself into my arms in his _male_ form and smacked me on the lips and then said in a really gay sounding voice "oh, Kuno, I'm going to miss all the _fun_ stuff we did together,"" he snapped.

"Oh come on it was all intended in good fun because he actually likes you a friend. Besides, you have to admit his female side is really cute and he's making great strides with getting more comfortable with a curse he will probably have for the rest of his life. I hasn't been easy for someone so naturally masculine as Ranma. Imagine if _you_ had his curse?" Nabiki said with a shrug and then frowned when Kuno seemed to be frozen in place. "Kuno-baby?" she asked him after five minutes of trying to get his attention.

"Brrrrrrr, I would hate that" he concluded, coming out of his trance.

"Must say, I like what you're wearing" Nabiki commented at his pale blue jeans and burgundy button down shirt.

"Modern enough for your liking?" he asked sourly.

"Yes very this century" she agreed.

"I have been trying hard ever since Kodachi and yourself began your campaign to make me more socially acceptable" he explained.

"You're going away soon and will be meeting new people, so you shouldn't alienate people like before. It's fine being eccentric here, but you'll have to make friends and will probably meet girls who will want to date you" Nabiki said and hugged him.

"And I'll probably alienate them from the first by asking them to prove that they are actually females or dump warm water over them to see if they change" he joked but hugged her back. "Really, more hugs? Am I so embraceable?" he asked her.

"I think you are and now you're not thee-ing and thou-ing every two minutes or walking around like this" Nabiki said and took a hold of his bokken, draped it over her shoulder and straightened up, smirked and started striding around.

"Really, more imitations of me?" he said placing his hands on his hips.

"Here comes the hair flip" she said, tossing her head.

"I have never been _that_ bad" he protested.

"So are you going to date with me tonight or what?" she said burnishing the bokkem at him threatening.

"I seriously have a lot of boning up to do" he replied.

"You have almost perfect marks; you'll have no problem getting into any school" she said.

"Because I study hard, I'm not a genius like you with your early acceptance and full scholarship to the most prestigious university in Japan" he said in frustration.

"You're a multi-millionaire, why bother even going to school ?" Nabiki said.

"Multi-Billionaire" he corrected. "In order to be respected as a future businessman, I need a proper degree from a decent university. Or should I just hang out here with Mr. Scaly Green, grow my hair long and smoke weed?" he sourly suggested.

"I think you would suit long hair" Nabiki teased.

"Not my style" he replied.

"Besides you could probably get your father to collect a couple of favours from his big boy friends and get you into whichever university you desire to attend " Nabiki suggested.

"You honestly think that my father has _ever_ been popular?" he said quirking his eyebrows at her.

"Your father's a self contained asshole" she concluded "and you know what they say about apples and trees."

"Don't even go there" he said raising his hand.

"You're much better than him...if you take me to the prom" Nabiki said.

"Why do you want to go with me _so_ badly if I'm _so_ annoying" he asked her.

"You're _my_ sort of annoying" she said. "Besides, it probably will be my last chance to say goodbye to you" she admitted.

"Oh" he said in dismay.

"Thanks, your oldest friend is going away and all you can say is; "oh"" Nabiki said, feeling like she was going to cry.

"That's not what I meant. When and why are you going away? I thought I had the summer with yourself and Kodachi dragging me into your ridiculous schemes. As long as it wasn't going for High Tea again, being the only male there amongst young mothers with their daughters dressed as Disney princesses was too embarrassing for words" he mused.

"I told you I was awaiting to find out if my friend's grandmother needed help in her ice cream shop for the summer? Well she not only offered me a job, but she's going to rent me the apartment above her shop for ridiculously cheap, but it means leaving in a couple days. I won't be here for the summer" she explained.

Kuno frowned at that "are you sure you have to go?" he asked her.

"I don't come from money; I have to be able to make money in order to pay my way in the world" she said.

"I know. Sorry, I was being selfish. I just can't imagine not having you around, it seems like I've been tripping over you my entire life" he said, hanging his head.

"That's a strange way to say you care about me" Nabiki said.

"You know I do. Who knows what would have happened between us if I had had a more conventional upbringing?" he said giving her a hug and was surprised when she sniffled a bit. "You'll always be my best friend wherever you go and I shall always be there for you; even if things got fucked up between us for a few years. Now stop sniffling, or I'll tell everyone you're not the cold hearted bitch you seem" he threatened.

"I'll miss you" she said drying her eyes on a tissue he gave her.

"I'll miss you too, therefore I shall go to this stupid prom with you tonight and eat rubber chicken with a smile" he concluded. "I supposed you have some scandalous dress picked out for you to wear tonight?" he asked.

"Red and low cut" she replied.

"Naturally, I shall order a red corsage for you" he said.

"But what I'm wearing is nothing compared to what Kodachi is wearing for her date with Mikado tonight; it's their third date after all" Nabiki teased him.

"Oh yes, I understand I have you to thank for my sister dating Mikado Sanzenin" Kuno dryly said.

"Not really, I recognized him and introduced them and they hit it off" Nabiki explained.

"He wouldn't dare" Kuno said with an evil smile.

"How do you mean?" Nabiki asked.

"I had words with our young swain and explained to him that if he kisses another girl besides my sister while they are involved; I will break his lips off and I went on to further explain, that if he fails to treat Kodachi as anything other than how he would treat his own sister; I would break off whatever pops up on him," Kuno said with a triumphant smile.

"I would hate to have you as a brother" Nabiki said with a shiver.

"I don't deal well with perverts" he concluded.

"Considering you were the one for Furankin High" Nabiki teased him.

"Do not even start to compare me to Mikado" Kuno threatened.

"You're worth a thousand Mikados to me, let's just have a nice night and forget about him and if you're nice to me; I'll let you kiss me" she said.

"Why is _everyone_ so wanting to kiss me all of the sudden?" Kuno grumped.

"I guess you're just so embraceable, Kuno-baby" Nabiki said.

"Yes Nabs-chan" he said.

"You haven't called me that for years" she said, giving him a smile that made her face light up.

"You haven't act like her for years" he replied as he studied her face and wondered when she had gotten so cute and his heart grew heavy at the idea of her leaving.


	5. Unlovable

Next chapter is ready to roll, I must say I'm enjoying writing these. The ratings had to be increased due to the more erotic nature of this chapter. Hope everyone's liking it. News from Toronto; we're practically getting no snow this year and the Toronto Maple Leafs are still not winning, surprise, surprise. Forget Go Leafs Go; it's more like Suck Leafs Suck :)

Btw: My favourite saying for 2016 is: Dear 2016 if you stop taking our Icons, we will give you the kardashians.

Nabiki looked around her luxury condo and sometimes couldn't believe it was hers; she still lived in Nerima at twenty-five, mainly because she wished to live near her family, but circumstances had sure changed for her. She had traded in her middle class lifestyle to become the vice president of a huge financial company that offered a three figure salary, so she was now a businesswoman and a force to be reckoned with. She had filled out slightly with maturity and had grown her hair to the middle of her back and had taken to dying it a bright red colour. Her normal look consisted of expensive power suits, designer high heels and her hair back in a tight bun. She was a mover and a shaker, a women on the rise...and lonely as anything. She had no boyfriends or even close friends because her career took up most of her time, it wasn't abnormal for her to arrive at the office at eight in the morning and go home at ten at night. Then there was the upcoming marriage of her oldest friend to worry about...

Nabiki hadn't been stupid enough to believe that Kuno wouldn't meet someone when he went to University even if he was eccentric; he was also tall and handsome and that he was rich certainly didn't hurt.

Nabiki had assumed he would meet a nice petite, spirited Japanese girl as he seemed to like that type of a woman (much like herself), but what she hadn't counted on was that he would meet Dona Larissa Cavalcanti, the Brazil Bombshell actress/heiress turned medical student; reputed to be the illegitimate daughter of Brazilian royalty. Yes friggin' Dona Larissa Cavalcanti with her with her celebrated buxom figure, with its well recorded tiny waist and legs that seemed to be four feet tall...the girl wet dreams were made of. Her friggin' heart shaped face with its signature plump red lips and large cat dark shaped eyes and her masses of black curls. Friggin' Dona Larissa Cavalcanti who spoke five languages and had opted to attend medical school in Japan, simply because she had never been there and happened to choose Kuno's University to attend, they met there and the rest appeared to be history.

The first time Nabiki had heard anything about them was when an article had appeared in the paper that was subtitled. "Japan's Most Eligible Bachelor Caught Skinny Dipping with Brazilian Heiress/Actress." Nabiki couldn't believe it when she read the interview where Larissa had laughed it off as a silly incident between two people so very much in love, doing something foolish. The picture of the smiling sexpot and a sheepish looking Kuno had been devastating to Nabiki who had always harboured a hope of romance between herself and Kuno. Besides, it was so against his character; he was all about keeping up appearances and living up to his family name. Yet when she had questioned him about it over spring break, he had laughed it off, clearly a man infatuated.

Nabiki had hoped that he would come to his senses when he moved back to Nerima after graduation, but Larissa came along with him, with her shrink wrapped wardrobe and her slinky nighties she always seemed to wear around his house, leaving no doubt to Nabiki as to _how_ Larissa kept Kuno happy.

Nabiki wondered about his sex life, it was never really something they had discussed in all those years together. Had Larissa been his first? That wouldn't have been surprise to Nabiki; he always seemed to choose the wrong girls for himself to pursue in the past. Nabiki, herself was still a virgin as there was only one man she had ever wanted...and he was getting married.

She harkened back to their prom date where she had hoped he would make love to her at the end of the night, but he had been a perfect gentlemen. They had danced and then attended an after party and finally found themselves on a beach, making out while the sun rose...but that was it.

Nabiki sighed the day she read about his engagement in the papers, something that had already been confirmed by a late night phone call from him, where he had seemed half drunk and giddy, as he told her he was getting married, she could hear a female voice in the background and tried to feel happy for him. She had spent three week's worth of pay cheques on an outfit when it came to meeting Larissa, because she wanted Kuno to see how sophisticated she had become, only to feel as dowdy as a librarian beside the tall, bronzed beauty and had hated her on sight at how "cute" she had proclaimed Nabiki to be and how she _had_ to be in his wedding party and Nabiki would look great _in a tuxedo_.

She met him once a week for lunch and had to hear wedding details and it made her feel sad, but happy for him to see him so much in love. Oddly enough her biggest ally who also couldn't stand Larissa was Kodachi, who referred to her as Trampolina...or the Brazilian bicycle when she felt in a generous mood.

Nabiki got home late on a Friday night when the phone rang, she wondered at this because hardly anyone ever called her. "Hello" she said.

"Hey Nabiki, what are you doing?" Kodachi asked.

"I just got home, Dachi" she said.

"Well, I know you're not going out on a date" Kodachi said.

"Why not?" Nabiki asked her.

"It's Friday, you stopped at Happy Pizza for a personal pan pizza and then hit Sweet Stuff for a pastry" Kodachi said.

Nabiki glanced guiltily over the pizza box and pastry box "I _could_ be going on a date you know" she said defensively.

"Yeah when Ryoga starts to fly. The last time you went on a date, _was_ when we met Ryoga for drinks together" Kodachi pointed out.

"And you took him home" Nabiki added.

"Only to make sure he got to the airport early the next day" Kodachi said defensively.

"He was leaving at two in the afternoon, as I recall" Nabiki said.

"Wherever, listen. I'm worried about Tachi, I got a really weird phone call from him that made little sense and I'm stuck at this medical convention all weekend long. Could you go check on him?" she asked him.

"I don't really like to disturb Larissa and himself" Nabiki cautiously said.

"I think something may have happened between them. I'm just a little worried about him and Sasuke's away visiting his ninja friends. Please," she begged her.

"Oh, okay" she replied.

She was surprised when she got to the mansion, every light in the place seemed to be on. She didn't even bother knocking, she rarely did, any servants the Kuno household employed refused to live in the house for fear of their lives, so Nabiki had memorized the safest routes to her friend's rooms a long ago. She was careful to avoid the pitfalls that might have caused the traps to spring and then frowned when she found Armadillo cowering in front of Kuno's room.

"What's wrong boy?" she asked him as she scratched the aging scotch terrier on the head; he whined in response and both jumped when a crash come from the room itself. "Kuno-baby" Nabiki cautiously said as she pushed open the door and stopped in alarm when she saw the pile of broken shoes and torn and shredded clothes, he turned to look at her, the mask of anger he wore made her shiver. "What's wrong?" she asked him out of concern.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm purging my life of Larissa, starting with her weapons of my seduction" he said, tearing up another silk gown.

"Tatewaki, what happened?" Nabiki asked, not realizing she had used his first name for the first time ever and moved behind him and lightly touched his shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" he cried, rounding on her.

"Okay, just tell me what happened. Where's Larissa?" she asked him.

"Larissa...she" he said in a broken voice and then his whole body seemed to slump forward and then he burst into tears. Nabiki instinctually went forward and held him, it broke her heart to see him so shattered, even when he was little she never had seen him cry.

She gently led him to his bed and sat him down and let him cry it out as she stroked his back until he became calmer, she took his hand when he pulled back. He looked completely disheveled as if he had been tearing at his hair and clothes. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him as she smoothed his hair back into place.

"Larissa, she cheated on me. Not with one man, but two " he said explained with a hitch to his voice.

"I'm so sorry" Nabiki said, stroking his hand.

"She said she loved me" he said.

"I'm sure she does" Nabiki said dubiously.

"No if you love someone, they should be enough for you" he said with a sigh. "Why can't anyone love me?" he asked her.

"Of course people love you" she protested.

"No, I'm guess I'm unlovable" he said with another sob and Nabiki did the only thing she could think of and covered his mouth with her own and whispered "I love you, Tatewaki" she admitted. He seemed to stiffened in surprise at first and then started kissing her back almost desperately. His arms came sharply around her and she gasped in surprise as he forced her back on the bed but did not hold her to place and looked at her with questioning eyes. Her mind warred with her body as the man she loved touched her sexually for the first time, she wanted to comfort him in every way possible, she wanted to drown in his caresses yet; did she want to lose her virginity like this? Nabiki had always been too practical to imagine it would be on their wedding night that they would first have sex but somehow she had thought it would be more special than this as the clothes seemed to magically disappear between the two of them. She was scared but too afraid it would never be offered to her again if she refused him and then her mind shut down as all the tender feelings she had for him, that she had been repressing, took over and she reveled in the feeling of his warm skin against her own. It hurt a little at first but the warm feelings soon returned and she cried out when they peaked together. He was soon escaped into asleep, too worn out from grief and their love making to stay awake. Nabiki gently adjusted him on the pillow, pulled the blankets over them both and drifted off to sleep as well, clinging to him.

The next morning, she was awoken to the sound of Kuno moving around, he had a trashbag and was shoving the ruined clothes and shoes into it. "Morning Tatewaki" she said.

He looked at her almost coldly; a look she recognized from their estranged years of high school. "Morning Nabiki Tendo" he said formally.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, pulling the sheets around her and getting up, he pulled away when she tried to touch him.

"I'm fine, however I ask that you leave" he said in a cold voice.

"But what about last night?" she asked him, feeling confused.

"Last night should not have happened. It was a mistake" he replied.

"Didn't last night mean anything to you?" she said, trying not to cry.

"Nabiki we have only ever been friends. I care for you as you know, but I have never had romantic feelings for you and told you as much" he explained.

"Fine, I'll go" she said turning her back on him to dress.

"Was that your first time?" he asked her with a frown.

"No I have been with _hundreds_ of men" she said with a smirk.

"You're hurt" he said starting towards her.

"As if, I got what I wanted from you. Have a nice life" she said as she ran from his place.

He stayed, not sure what to do, still feeling numb but hurting from his fiancée's betrayal and not even realizing he had taken that out on Nabiki. Yet the bloodstains on his bed gave him pause as he pondered their implications.

Nabiki made it back to her place before she broke into tears and realized that her dream of being with Kuno was dead...and that no protection had been used.


	6. The Conspiracy

Thank you BiGDeal for the idea of the exchange between Kuno Sr. and Soun Tendo; I couldn't resist using it, I always give credit people who suggest ideas that I use.

Not finishing this today, it's getting too long for my liking and I have Under the Dome to watch on Shomi and listen to The Rodeo Song on a endless loop screeching through my head.

Oh Vector426, I'm putting this here as you seem to be reading my stories and I can't PM you as you're a guest, sooo funny what you suggested about Kodachi and Gosunkugi. I was trying to come up with a romance story between them. Kind of hard to as he's perhaps one of the least sexy characters as a potential romantic hero to work with. So I shall see about that. Glad you like my weird pairings.

NABIKI

"Be reasonable, it's not like I'm a teenager. I have responsibilities, I make heavy decisions that affect the growth of my company. I have people that rely on me" she insisted but the pregnancy test still displayed its cheerful little positive sign, and it's nine other friends did too.

"I don't have time for this, I have to travel a lot for my job. I have a family to help support" she said as she glared at them, but pregnancy test and its mates didn't seem to be open to negotiations. She felt like they were mocking her.

"I make a lot of money. I live in the most exclusive condominium building in town; I had to be approved by the condo board just to be able to purchase into this place. I belong to all the right clubs, I have lots of investments, I donate a quarter of my salary to charity. I'm a good person. This is simply _not_ a convenient time for me. Perhaps in a couple of years if I find a man who loves me?" she suggested with a hitch in her voice and then choked it down. She was determined to get over Kuno; it had been a couple of weeks since she had really spent time with him. He had sent roses by way of apology. She had hacked them up with a katana feeling it fitting with his family's blade fetish and sent them back with a strong note urging him to cram their remains into a certain orifice on his body. He had tried to see her, but she had refused him every time. There had been a temporary satisfaction in seeing the great and powerful Tatewaki Kuno escorted from her work by security.

"Come on, I've only had sex once. Surely I'm not that fertile?" she pleaded with them, but all ten of them begged to differ with her with their smug little cheerful plus signs. She weighed her options. "I'll get an abortion" she cried in satisfaction and then frowned at this, wondering what if this might be her only chance to have a child. Then she pictured a little dark haired boy running towards her from a playground, he had his father's eyes and she almost felt like reaching out to catch the phantom child in her arms. Then she pictured an equally as dark haired daughter giving her a mischievous smile gap-toothed smile; she had Nabiki's smile and his eyes as well, as Nabiki caught them having tea with both her and her father wearing matching flowery floppy brimmed hats. Then she pictured years of her working overtime, with no time for a social life, no time for romance, her friends getting married as she stayed the same and years of coming home to an empty condo; always so alone. No, she couldn't have an abortion, she decided.

However she could rise the child by herself, she realized but then sagged at this idea, Nerima was a small city it wouldn't take long for Kuno to discover that she was pregnant and insist on marrying her if only for family honour as he was _all_ about that, that and she knew that he wanted children one day. Could she marry him and be trapped in a loveless marriage or worse, be caught in a situation where only _one_ person was in love; how long before bitterness replaced that love? She simply didn't know what to do, all she could think about was getting away from Nerima if only to decide on her own what to do. Sighing, she threw out all but one of her little mockers and got her coat on to go over to tell her family.

TATEWAKI

He paced the floor of his office and couldn't seem to concentrate on anything. He was frustrated and humiliated over how his relationship with Larissa had ended. Okay she hadn't really been his type. Not even close when he thought about it, he had been blinded by lust as ever, it would appear and now it has cost him the most important person in the world to him.

He hadn't meant to say what he did to Nabiki; he didn't have any romantic feelings towards her because he had never _allowed_ himself to develop any, he had held her at arm's length because he had never wanted to lose her, she was too valuable as a friend to him. She had been there for him in his grief and he had turned to her for sex, needing an escape...and had experienced his first emotional attachment to someone during the act itself. He had always assumed he was just not that much into sex, it was a fun but that was about it. Now he realized that he had just never really been with someone he was actually in love with during the act and now he was...and she wanted nothing to do with him. He had tried calling her, texting her, going to visit her and she told him basically to "go have sex with himself".

Tatewaki had never had much luck with woman; his first had been Mariko simply because she was the only one who seemed to want him and although he had learned a lot about pleasing a woman from her, he thought she was annoying with her spelling everything and constant cheering and gave a sigh of relief when she went to chase after another man.

Then he had a brief fling with Ukyo Kuonji that lasted only over a weekend that started by her simply requesting she use him a tool to rid herself of her virginity soon after Ranma and Akane married, he'd been happy to oblige her being rather bitter about that time period himself. They had had a fun time, barely emerging from their hotel room during their stay and she moved back to Osaka soon afterwards. Not that Nabiki knew about _that_.

As for Larissa, she had made him her sexual slave until he barely knew which way was up. He had to wonder why he was so easily led by women. Was there something wrong with him? Was there something lacking in his nature?

All he knew was that there was one person who really loved him and he did her as well and now he realized this all too late and it felt like a part of him was missing. It was funny, how she had grown from a cute little girl to so beautiful a woman and he had never seemed to have notice that. He must have been so blind. Yes he had known about her feelings for him, after all it seemed like she had wanted him to be her first for everything and he finally accepted her final sacrifice, only to lose her.

NABIKI

She stood in front of them all and told them exactly what had occurred. "So I will understand if you want to disown me" she concluded. Glancing around at Akane and her brother-in-law, Ranma, Kasumi and her husband, Dr. Tofu and Soun Tendo; Genma finally having returned to live with his wife.

"Forget that, I'll just kill Kuno" Ranma said.

"No, he doesn't know about this and I'm not ready to tell him until I decide what I want to do with this child" Nabiki said firmly.

"You're not planning to have an abortion, are you?" Kasumi asked her in a shocked voice.

"No, that is _not_ an option. I'm giving birth to this child, I just have to decide if I want to be with its father or make co-parenting arrangements with him" she explained.

"You know that Kuno is very old fashioned, almost to the point of being stodgy. He would marry you for sure if he knew" Akane pointed out.

"I won't be trapped into a loveless marriage," Nabiki said and then looked expectantly at her father.

"The route you are going will be a lonely one if you decide to raise an illegitimate child, this may be modern Japan but it's still Japan" he said taking her hands. "I won't disown you because I don't want to be trapped in a loveless marriage either. We will keep your secret until you decide what your decision is" Soun assured her and she tearfully hugged him and then all of them.

SOUN

"But sir, you can't go in there..." his secretary objected.

"Who you be?" asked the pineapple tree-topped principal. "You be looking a little old to be my...oof" he said when Soun punched him in the stomach.

"Cut the crap out Kuno, you know exactly who I am. I went to high school with you" he said seizing him by the collar of his Hawaiian shirt.

"I no be knowing..." he said and then Soun shook him hard.

"Okay what do you want?" he said in a normal sounding voice.

"I'm letting you know that you're going to be a grandfather; just like I am. It seems that the Kuno line is joining the Tendo line" he explained.

This appeared to give the other man pause. "Your daughter Nabiki and my son?" he guessed.

"Yes and I came to tell you that you are not to interfere in any of their decisions on how they want to raise their child. I won't have you fucking up another generation" Soun said threateningly.

"I raised my children just fine" he insisted.

" _I_ pretty much raised _your_ boy, you were never there for either of your children, the only thing _you_ did was give them those ghastly names and mental issues. I didn't like it when my wife brought home your son and I told her _never_ to invite him back when I found out who his father was. But my wife had a kind heart and refused to listen to me and before long, I started to like him because he was a sweet child. It was because of _my_ wife that he received lunches for school and other things your wife should have done for him. Your wife was too far gone all the time to care of his needs. My wife even offered to take your daughter home after school but she wouldn't let her. Then when my dear wife passed and I inherited the care of your son and I didn't shirk that duty out of a promise to my wife and because I was fond of your son. Oddly enough and for some reason, Tatewaki and his sister turned out okay. He's running your company and she's a scientist; in case you don't know. Your daughter likes to date a lot and hasn't settled for a certain man yet, but is most frequently in the company of a childhood friend of my son-in-law's, Ranma, his name is Ryoga Hibiki and he's a solid, upstanding young man who runs his own construction company and treats your daughter with the respect she deserves and appears to really care about her. That is what your children are up to" Soun spelled out to him.

"So you want my son to marry your daughter?" he asked.

"Ideally yes, but they have a lot of history between them and my daughter isn't sure about her feelings towards your son" Soun explained.

"So threaten to disown her and she'll fall in line" Kuno suggested. "That's what I would do."

"No, I'm going to support her in whatever decision Tatewaki and herself make because I care about both of them and they are mature enough to make their own decisions. I have seen with my on two eyes what being trapped in a loveless marriage can do to people; that's how your own marriage was after all. It's too bad you never bothered to get to know your children when you got back from Hawaii, they are a credit to you, perhaps the only credit you have. You were an brain dead idiot back in high school, always more concerned about chasing girls than anything else. Yes, I know all about the affairs you had with women while ignoring your wife and children. I even had to witness your son become you but he seems to have grown out of the stage of his life, which is good for him and you have my daughter to thank for that" he explained.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he asked him.

"Stay out of it unless they come to you. I'll be helping to raise our grandchild; I seem to be rather good at raising Kunos' after all. Oh and you can forget about calling the child Blade or Katana or anything stupid like that, it shall have a normal Japanese name of its parents choosing. Do you understand?" he asked him, giving him another shake.

"Tachi is my son" he said.

"In _name_ only. So the long and the short of it is, if catch you interfering in their lives in any way, I will kill you. You're someone I wouldn't trust to babysit a cactus, let alone trust with children. You're a disgrace Kuno, I'm surprised they allow you around children at all" Soun said and released the other man.

"I can do whatever I want because I can afford to; you're nothing Tendo. All you have is a martial arts form borrowed from everyone else's and a rundown old dojo" Kuno said with a smirk.

"You may have had a huge house and lots of money but I was husband and I _am_ a father. I have the respect of my children and have always put their happiness and needs before my own. I love them and they love me back because I struggled to give them a happy childhood when their mother passed and I like to think I was a positive influence on your son. Whereas, you were a visitor in your children's lives and that shall continue when it comes to this grandchild to be born and any future ones. Hope that your cold money is a good substitute for loving hugs and kisses" Soun said and left the other man, but not before flashing him a smirk of his own.

NABIKI

Nabiki was pondering what to do, still wanting to take a vacation from it all, lord knows she had a lots of vacation time banked up but; where to go where she could proper health care and have someone with her she knew in case something went wrong? She would still be pregnant wherever she went anyway and nervous about the idea of travelling alone. She was still thinking about it when someone literally waved a hand in front of her face. "Ni Hao, earth to Nabiki" Shampoo said.

Nabiki snapped to immediately and hugged the heavily pregnant girl and her husband, Mousse.

"Looks like you have missed us. Hey not so tight, I want to let this baby come to term on its own" Shampoo jokingly protested.

"It's been so long. How are you both?" Nabiki asked as she put an arm around each of them.

"Busy ever since we opened our third restaurant" Mousse explained.

"Come over for tea at our old place and we'll tell you all about it" Shampoo suggested, linking her arm with Nabiki's.

"So that's it, after Mousse defeated me due to my having an inner ear infection. My great-grandmother stayed long enough to see us married and then turned over the restaurant to us" Shampoo explained. "I think you can guess the rest" she said touching her belly.

"An inner ear infection? That's cheating you naughty, naughty Mousse" Nabiki chided him.

"It was her idea for me to challenge her when she was like that" he protested. "I think she was getting impatient about us having to sneak around during our relationship, everyone knew we were having sex anyway" Mousse supplied with a sheepish grin.

"I'm happy to be married to this silly duck-boy" she said affectionately.

"I charge you with being my wife; your fine is a kiss" he joked and Shampoo kissed him with a giggle, Nabiki saw the obvious love between the two of them... and burst into tears.

"Nabiki are you okay?" Shampoo asked her in alarm. "I hope we didn't offend you, Mousse is so sappy."

"No it's not that...it's just" she sobbed.

"Tell us" Mousse said handing her a napkin. Oddly enough his reaction was similar to Ranma's ""I'll kill him" he said.

"He doesn't know yet" Nabiki.

"Well we are happy to help you in any way we can, but we're going back to China soon" Shampoo explained. "You know we have chosen to remain in Japan, but want our baby to be born in Joketsuzoku surrounded by our families."

Nabiki's head shot up at this. "What's it like there?" she asked her.

"Well a little primitive perhaps but it's like a normal village here" Mousse explained.

"Is there health care?" Nabiki asked her.

"Of course, there's a hospital there" Shampoo said. "But I'm using my great-grandmother as a midwife."

"Do you think I could come with you?" she asked them.

"You want your child to born a _Chinese_ citizen?" Shampoo asked her with surprise.

"No I just need some time to myself to decide what is best for this child" she explained.

"We'll agree if your family does too" Shampoo said after sharing a searching look with Mousse and he nodded at her. "Also the council will have to decide if you can stay. They don't take just anyone in, even if it is temporarily. Also if they agree, you'll have to help out with chores and will be assigned some sort of job for the duration of your stay. So it wouldn't be a free ride in a fancy car," Shampoo explained.

"I can agree to that" Nabiki assured them. "Looks like it's time for a family meeting...I have to invite Kodachi too though" Nabiki said.

FAMILY MEETING TIME

"I don't want you to go" Soun protested.

"So you're not willing to marry my brother?" Kodachi asked her

"This child shall bear your last name and he'll have custody rights to it regardless of whether we are married are not. It's just I don't even know myself or what I want... and I'm going to be a mother. I want to go a place with someone I trust and learn who I am and what _I_ want. I don't want a loveless marriage. I've always been someone's daughter and his friend. But who am I really? I'm tough as steel but I want love and if that is just the love of a child, I shall accept that and I want to learn to be strong and to protect my child and it seems that learning a few Amazon martial art forms might come in handy for that" Nabiki said smiling at the Amazons.

"Mousse would act as a temporary husband to her" Shampoo explained. "Of the non-sexual variety" she assured everyone at their frowns.

"I don't like it, we will miss you too much" Kasumi objected.

"And you'll be so close to Jusenkyo" Ranma pointed out.

"I'm pregnant, not by much, by about three weeks but I _doubt_ I'll go training there and end up as a weasel or something" Nabiki joked. "I'm going with or without everyone's blessings. Kodachi, I'll write to you and tell you how my pregnancy is progressing and when I'm ready to let Tatewaki know, I want you to deliver those letters to him. Until then, he's not a know about my pregnancy _or_ where I am" she insisted.

"I agree" Kodachi said.

"We agree as well" Akane said, putting her hand on her husband's arm to still his ojections.

"As do we, contact me when you get there and I'll transfer your medical file to your attending doctor" Dr. Tofu said.

"Daddy?' Nabiki said looking at him. "I won't be there forever, I'll be back long before the baby is born. " she assured him.

"Okay, but I expect you to contact me at least once a week" he told her.


	7. Take No Prisoners

Another chapter down, looks like I might continue this for a bit.

Don't mind the flashback scenes, it's fun trying to write them as younger kids.

TATEWAKI

Months had gone by since Nabiki had left on her trip that no one seemed to actually know where she was, ever her father who seemed to always know where his children were at any given time. They told him she was randomly touring around Japan and would contact him soon.

Touring around? That didn't seem plausible to Tatewaki; Nabiki was a great planner and made lists an arm in length just to go away for the weekend. Besides that, he had hired private detectives and even they could find no trace of her, it was like she had vanished off the planet itself!

Just how mad could she be at him, he wondered. Of course she must have been upset when he had implied her first time meant nothing to him, but to totally shut him out like this was torture! He just wished she would do so much as to send him a postcard, if only to let him know she was alright. He kept on having these horrible visions of her being attacked while she was out somewhere on her own or falling ill. He was frustrated as he sensed that someone knew the answers to his questions and no one was talking!

For some reason, the circumstances of their first meeting sprang into his head.

FLASHBACK

Tatewaki was lurking about the toy box on his first day of kindergarten, trying not to cry, his father had told him that only babies cried. He had arrived at school to find out that all the other kids knew each other from something called, daycare or play dates and he didn't know anyone. Some of them seemed to be whispering and pointing to him and no one seemed to want to play with him.

"You're cute, who are you?" a voice asked.

He turned around to see a little girl with her hair in pigtails. "I'm Tatewaki Kuno" he said, surprised that she wanted to talk to him.

"I'm Nabiki Tendo. That's a stupid name," she observed.

"Well I think Nabiki sounds stupid too" he said with a pout, she just kept on staring at him in a way that unnerved him.

"I'm going to call you Kuno-baby" she declared.

"Fine, I'll call you Nabs-chan" he shot back.

"Okay" she agreed. "You're going to be my boyfriend" she declared.

"What do I have to do?" he asked her.

"Whatever I say" she said. "Come on, I'll teach you to how play doctor" she said taking his hand and leading him into a playhouse.

"How do you play that?" he asked her and she just smiled back.

END FLASHBACK

He tried to distract himself by going through his mail and then realized that he had accidently opened a medical journal that Kodachi had told him she had subscribed to, he went to put it aside when an ultrasound photo slipped out and a picture of Nabiki, he froze in shock at this and then unfolded the letter inside.

"Dear Tatewaki,

Well it's official, the first trimester is over and good riddance to its pukey wretchedness. Be glad you're not a woman. Now we just have six more months of me swelling up like a balloon, extreme tiredness and swollen ankles. Bring it on lol.

As you can see from the ultrasound; Sprout is starting to look like an actual baby and not like a squashed vegetable anymore. The lady who did the ultrasound says she spots a tiny penis but it's hard to tell at this stage really and I really haven't had that much experience with penises to be able to tell as you know. So we're either having a boy or it's a girl with her umbilical cord in a strange place.

I'm already ready to come home from China soon, so you'll be receiving these letters and hopefully won't judge me too harshly. I only stayed this long to help out Mousse and Shampoo with Ivy, they say they can manage without me but I really like being with my adopted little niece. Who knows? I might prove to be a natural mother yet. Bet that's a role you could never picture me in?

I miss you and love you; hope you don't mind me saying that. I can't help myself, with your child growing inside of me, I feel more emotionally connected to you than ever. I'm not the ice queen from high school that I was, in fact. I cry easily these days, everything seems to set me off; it's the pregnancy hormones apparently. Speaking of those, I know you're going to be pissed off that I shut you out for so long like this, but I'm hoping you'll want to have sex with me because my sex drive is through the roof. I can see why women have husbands during this time; because they have to have sex with us no matter what because they caused this condition.

Did I tell you that I was taught to knit and I kick ass at it? I hope you like the colour green because I made you a sweater, yes it will fit you, I know your body as well as my own. Your little Nabiki mastered a domestic art; who knew?

Here's a picture of myself, I now officially have a baby bump! 12 weeks; not looking too shabby I must say.

Love,

Nabiki"

Tatewaki's eyes went wide at what her letter suggested and examined the photo, it showed Nabiki wearing Chinese style robes while in profile, her shirt was pulled up to expose the slight curvature of her belly and she was smiling at the camera. He wildly thought back to the day they had had sex and quickly did the math and realized that she was pregnant! He felt elated, rejected and scared all at the same time. Now he understood why no one would tell him exactly where she was and he wondered how many other people knew about this and were keeping it from him.

Obviously his own sister knew if she had been getting secret letters from Nabiki; then he wondered where the other letters were and tried to remember Kodachi's hiding spots, that she thought he didn't know about. He went through them methodically and discovered nothing, but then remembered that as a little girl, she used to hide her favourite things in her old doll house and hit the jackpot.

They were arranged by date and it looked like Nabiki had posted them at least once a week. He frantically turned to the first one.

Dear Tatewaki,

This is my first day spent in China and the elders have decided to let me stay, yet I'm homesick already and can't stop crying because I miss you. I want you to know that I'm not doing this out of spite though I am hurt how easily you rejected me.

I'm here mainly because I'm freaked out that I, Nabiki Tendo is knocked up like some stupid teenager. Me, who never intended to have kids is pregnant before her two married sisters! I know that if I would have stayed, you would have insisted we marry but I don't want to trap you anymore than I want to be trapped myself in a bad situation. I don't want this to be about honour, I want this to be what is best for our baby.

I know you're probably going to be mad when you finally see me but I am not ashamed that this happened, I want this baby and I'm happy you're the father. I guess I should have just jumped you in high school and gotten you out of my system a long time ago or just picked someone up at a bar and rid myself of my hymen. However, I doubt I would have kept some stranger's baby, I want it because it's yours.

Please don't hate me.

Love,

Nabiki"

Tatewaki read the rest of her letters, some made him laugh about life her in the Chinese village and some broke his heart and he wondered how she could think he could never love her? How could she not tell him about the child she carried? Did she think him so cold that he would reject her? Was she ashamed of him?

The hurt soon faded to rage when he realized how many other people knew about _his_ child before he did, he was out the door and on the way to the Tendo Dojo before he even realized he was heading there.

SOUN

Soun was having a relaxing day alone as Ranma and Akane had gone to visit his mother and father and Kasumi was at the clinic with her husband. He did miss how busy his house used to be, but at the same time, it was much more peaceful and needed fewer repairs. He frowned when there was a hammering at the door and opened it to find a highly pissed off looking Kuno.

"Mr. Tendo, perhaps you can explain these to me?" he spat as he held up Nabiki's letters.

"Come inside and have some sake with me, son" he said.

"I don't need alcohol; I need answers. What the hell is Nabiki doing in China with Mousse and Shampoo and when _was someone going to tell me she's pregnant_?" he demanded.

Soun sat down at the table and poured sake for the both of them. " _She_ was, she needed some time to think after your rejection of her and chose to accompany Mousse and Shampoo home for the birth of their first child. Nabiki's not to sort to back down from a challenge as you know but finding out she was pregnant shocked her to the core and she reacted in an uncharacteristic way" he explained.

Tatewaki took a seat and sipped his sake. "So I will marry her, plain and simple" he said.

"It's not so black and white as all that. Nabiki isn't the romantic sort but she is in love with you questions whether you will ever be able to love her back" Soun said.

"I already do" Tatewaki admitted.

"That's a good start. But you have years of neglect of her to make up for. After all, chose her own sister in place of Nabiki as your high school love" Soun pointed out.

"That was a stupid mistake. I thought I loved Akane, but I was just responding to her resemblance to your late wife. I used to have a crush on her" he admitted with a blush.

"Son, a lot of men and little boys had a crush on Reiko over the years. Did I ever tell you how I met my wife?" Soun asked him.

"No, please tell me" Tatewaki requested.

"I used to be really good at soccer when I was sixteen and would always play with my friends during recess and Reiko would always sit under the same tree and read a book . I thought she was so beautiful, so I would show off to get her attention, so one day I tried to do a particularly difficult hook shot and tripped over the ball and broke my nose and she went with me to the hospital" he explained.

"That's funny" Kuno admitted. "Do you think that Nabiki will forgive me?" he added.

Soun pondered about that. "She been in love with you since you both were tiny. What do you think?" he asked the younger man.

"I don't know why" Kuno admitted.

"Like myself; members of my family know when they meet their predestined mate and you're the one for Nabiki, it would appear" Soun explained.

"But that makes no sense, Ranma and Akane fought like cats and dogs and Doctor Tofu and Kasumi took forever to get together" Kuno protested.

"I made the mistake of trying to pressure Ranma and Akane into getting married, along with Ranma's father and that caused hostility been the pair. Once Genma opted to return home; I "encouraged" Ranma to go with him and they were caught in bed together a few days later. As for Kasumi, she was too busy looking after me to notice Dr. Tofu and he had a genetic precondition to act nuts around the girl he loved. Everyone has their thing, yours is willful blindness when it comes to love and having lousy parents. But I would be happy to call you my son-in-law" he assured him.

"If she'll marry me" Kuno mused.

"Charm her, court her into the idea. The last thing you want to do it demand it from her" Soun cautioned him.

"Oh I shall" Kuno said, apparently liking the idea of the challenge. "You know that I'm heading to China tomorrow to claim her, right?"

"I know as I would do the same thing if I was in your shoes" Soun agreed.

NABIKI

It was odd but Joketsuzoku agreed with Nabiki, she had first been assigned to kitchen duty upon arrival and was quickly removed from there when it turned out she had no talent for it. Then she was assigned to laundry duty but again, it didn't work out. In exasperation, she was assigned to be the tribal accountant and had been there ever since.

When she had first arrived the council wasn't sure what to make of the pregnant Japanese girl who didn't even speak their language but accepted her amongst them on Cologne's approval of her. With young tribal girls fleeing from the village to cities to get married in a more traditional ways with their young men; they were in need to fresh blood.

She had had some suitors at first challenging her, until Mousse put a stop to that and then when her belly started to show, those quickly still interested dried up.

Working in the fields gathering crops had tanned her skin and she had taken to Joketsuzoku martial arts like a duck to water and joined classes to learn new moves and between a healthy diet and exercise, her slender figure had blossomed with subtle muscles and even her baby bump was well defined.

Pregnancy seemed to agree with Nabiki as her body bloomed and took on a healthy mother-earth type glow as if her body was making love to itself. Nabiki herself felt she looked more beautiful than she ever had been and everyone seemed to agree with that and felt more alive than when she had been the frustrate corporate virgin. She was calmer and felt more sexually desirable and confident in her sexuality and what she had to offer a man. She realized that she could be the corporate wonder woman and a mother too and she wanted Tatewaki as well, she decided...if _he_ was worthy of _her._

She was singing to Ivy while Shampoo and Mousse slept as she fed her. The tiny baby had her mother's hair and her father's calm demeanour. "No crying now, your parents need their sleep" she whispered to her. She frowned and ran to answer her cell phone as it rang and was surprised anyone from home was calling her so late.

"Daddy?" she questioned, when she picked up the phone.

"Nabiki, Kuno knows. He found the letters you sent to Kodachi and came to see me" her father warned her.

"Did he seem upset?" she asked him.

"He was, but I managed to calm him down. He also seems to be in love with you and is on his way there and intends to take no prisoners" he explained.

Nabiki pumped one toned arm into the air in victory and purred, "Well in that case, I can't wait to see him."


	8. The End

Last chapter, I didn't intend to write it like this at all, it's like it wrote itself but I think it it's funny. Hope you enjoyed this romp, Sid.

NABIKI

Nabiki found herself smirking like she hadn't in years and looked forward to her encounter with Tatewaki, she knew he was going to stride in like he always did and try to take charge of the situation by being his usual overbearing self. However he wasn't going to find some confused pregnant woman like he thought he was rescuing, he was going to meet the Ice Queen who had used his weakness against him before and would do so again. She waited until her friends woke up. She had her own appointed home in the village but had opted to stay with Shampoo and Mousse for the most part as she enjoyed their company and her Mandarin wasn't the best. She started making tea when she heard voices coming from their bedroom and they joined her.

"Were you up all night long, Nabiki. You know that that is bad for your baby" Shampoo chided her.

"I'll take a nap later. However, I'm wondering if you still have that maternity lingerie?" she asked her.

"Oh have you _finally_ decided to take me up on my offer of Mousse? It's about time, your pregnancy hormones must be driving you over the edge."

"I would be honoured to serve you in place of your intended" Mousse assured her.

Nabiki grinned at them, "I thank you for your kind offers and although Mousse is very tempting, I can't ask either of you to break your marriage vows. Let's just say that a _certain_ man coming for a visit" she said.

"Kuno?" Shampoo asked her.

"He discovered the letters that Kodachi was concealing from him and is probably winging down here on his private jet as we speak" Nabiki gleefully said.

"How do you feel about that?" Mousse asked her.

"Let him come. Let's say I have a surprise for him" Nabiki said and outlined her plan.

"But that's not a rule, in fact, traditionally men and women are not even supposed to be alone together without a chaperone before marriage" Mousse objected.

"He doesn't know that" Nabiki said. "Think we can convince the Cologne and the rest of the council to go along with it?"

"Well they do have a good sense of humour" Shampoo said with a frown. "I'll ask them."

"I wouldn't want to make you mad" observed Mousse.

"No I'm not a nice person when I'm mad at someone. Besides, it's mainly a joke at his expense" she assured him.

"Yes public humiliation is a great way to start a marriage" Mousse pointed out.

"I'm not shy" she said Mousse just smiled at her and went to go attend to his daughter.

TATEWAKI

Tatewaki felt more confident and looked forward to seeing Nabiki...the mother of his child, he reminded himself. He didn't know what approach to take though, as he didn't know if she would be happy to see him or not. However, he knew he was doing the right thing by taking matters into him own hands and going to collect her. He knew she would probably put up a fight as Nabiki had always been obstinate, but in the end, he would convince her it was time to come home so they could marry before their child was born.

He found himself curious about the village, Joketsuzoku and the Amazon society where Nabiki had been living, he only knew about it from what he had been told by Mousse, Shampoo and Cologne. He certainly couldn't imagine himself enjoying belonging to a female dominated society, it went against every principle had he had been raised with. But to each their own.

He also had been glad to hear that Nabiki hadn't been alone, Mousse and Shampoo weren't close friend to Tatewaki or anything but they were friendly enough and he did like Mousse. Though Tatewaki did have to blush at the memory of how he had found out the hard way that Mousse and Shampoo had been sleeping together through a strange encounter when everyone had been camping out.

He had been asleep in his tent when suddenly a tongue was shoved down his throat and male hands explored him in places he would have never encouraged them to be. He had been about to send the other man flying back to China via his right cross when Mousse realized the lack of female anatomy present on his supposed sexual partner and quickly explained what had happened. Tatewaki had sent him off with directions to her tent and told him to wear his glasses the next time.

AT JOKETSUZOKU

Tatewaki was really quite surprised when he was met by escorts at the airport itself and the two brawny women indicated to him in horrible Japanese that he was to come with them.

He was further surprised how modern the village appeared with its paved street and, modern looking homes and stores. He had assumed that they all lived in huts and cooked food over a fire. Though he did have to wonder as to the purpose of the huge log suspended in the town square. However he was led past there by his "body guards" to what appeared to be some sort of a community center. He wasn't all surprised to find Cologne sitting on some sort of throne, surrounded by a group of slightly younger women, in fact there appeared to be every woman in the village in there...and Mousse. "Nabiki" he cried at the sight of her standing in a circle of woman, he tried to go to her to hug her but was forced back by them.

"Nabiki, what's going on here?" he asked her in confusion and then blushed when she seemed to be wearing nothing more than some sheer short see-through nightie and panties and her long red hair had been arranged into a hairstyle similar to Shampoo's.

"As I am now an Amazon; I am bound by their laws" she explained to him.

"Sorry Kuno, you have to earn the right to claim her as bride" Cologne explained to him.

"This is sheer nonsense, she's a Japanese citizen and she's coming home with me" he explained impatiently.

"She wanted to become an Amazon and now she is, if you want to claim her, you have to do as we say. As she's pregnant, trial by combat does not apply in this case; trial by sex does. You have to pleasure her as she never has been pleasured before...or you can forfeit your claim on her and she will become Mousse's second wife and your child becomes his" Cologne explained, struggling not to smile. How she loved having fun with Japanese people, they would literally believe anything.

"Here, in front of everyone?" Tatewaki cried and blanched at the idea.

NABIKI

Nabiki could sense that everyone was trying not to laugh as some people translated what was going on to others. She had intended this just as a joke and could see even Cologne was struggling not to laugh as Kuno blushed beet red. She knew there was no way that he could go through with it. It wasn't that he was shy but, there was no way he, who was all about not embarrassing his family, would agree to having sex with her in front of half the town! She decided to see how far her was willing go before she admitted the whole thing was a joke. He looked to where she smirked at him in challenge and started to remove his clothes as he walked towards her.

The circle of women parted in shock as he stepped before her bared to the waist. "What are you doing?" she stammered and everyone looked on in surprise.

"I have come a long way to get you and I'm not going to let some stupid law get in the way of that" he said impatiently as he picked her up and lay her on the supposed ceremonial bed they had set up in the center of the room as a prop for the joke, that had suddenly went horribly sideways.

"But Tatewaki" she protested as he dropped his pants and stepped out of them; you could have toasted a marshmallow on her face.

"Wait" Cologne said. "You can only use certain positions for pregnant women" she said desperately.

"You think I don't know that? I looked that up on the internet." he shot back as he tenderly stroked Nabiki's belly and she felt a tear well up and she sniffled as he did the his first public acknowledgement of the paternity of their child. "I intend to marry this woman and make love to her...and nothing will stop me. Because I love you" he said to her alone.

"Oh Tatewaki" she cried out and kissed him desperately, completely forgetting where they were to hear it from him for the first time and people could only look on in partly in shock and partly in horniness as the two made ardent love in front of them all, exploring many positions and loudly enjoying themselves.

"Mousse it's like a train wreck; I just can't look away" Shampoo said with a blush.

"So you don't want to go next?" he joked.

"No but I kind of do wish this _was_ a real trial" Shampoo said with a giggle. "I suspect lots of babies shall be conceived tonight."

"Well we were talking about trying for a second one" he replied, giving her a salacious glance.

TATEWAKI AND NABIKI

"You could have told me it was a joke" he complained when she explained it later.

"I never thought you would go through with it" she said as she hugged him, enjoying the feeling of his muscular body against her own; they were on his plane winging their way back to Japan.

"I would have done _anything_ to get you back" he said and wiped a tear of her's away. Apparently her statement that everything made her cry was correct. She had cried after her final orgasm, she had cried when Cologne said she was his and she had then cried when she said goodbye to her friends and finally, when he had given her the engagement ring the second they were alone.

"So you really love me?" she asked him.

"I just had sex with you in front of half of China to make you mine. I'm yours for life" he promised and held her while she started to cry again.

"I love you too. Here I thought I was to you, kind of like how Ukyo Kuonji was to Ranma" she said and then wondered why her future husband had suddenly stiffened.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked her as he sweat dropped.

"Well, you know I'm your old friend from childhood and she was Ranma's. You have to feel sorry for a girl like that; she's probably frigid and still a virgin" Nabiki mused. Tatewaki schooled his features, not wanting to give away that he knew for fact that the girl was neither. "Oh well, enough about her" she said dismissively and cuddled back into him.

"So you're pretty sure we're having a boy?" he asked her, suddenly changing the subject.

"All signs point to yes" she said and sniffled again when his hand settled on her stomach.

"Soun Koun?" Tatewaki suggested.

"You want to name him after my father?" she asked, sniffling again.

"I want to name him after a man I respect...and I was thinking Reiko if it turns out to be a girl" Tatewaki said.

"I guess we should get married soon" Nabiki said, wondering if she had ever felt so happy.

"As far as I'm concerned, we already are. But of course we'll make it legal" Tatewaki said and hugged the weeping girl and anticipated a challenging married life ahead with her as his wife...and welcomed the challenge.

THE END


End file.
